Some Items You Can Probably Go Without (Part 12)
While it's productive to share stories about designs and practices that help us live comfortably and less wastefully in small spaces, I think it’s just as important to discuss the things that we can happily live WITHOUT— particularly in this era of climate crisis. After all, making a home in a small space isn’t about figuring out how to puzzle a life’s worth of belongings into your compact quarters. It’s about experiencing more by owning less.
The following is just a small sampling of items you may want to reconsider before you buy. (View all the entries in this series here.)
Plastic shower curtains and liners:
Depending on the style of your shower, you might be able to skip the standard plastic liners and synthetic blend curtains. Here we use a simple linen tablecloth / throw blanket (handmade locally for Gjusta Goods), which we suspend from the curtain rod via metal clothespin hooks. We simply throw the fabric into the machine with similar washing about once every-other week for a good soapy bath of its own. If the bottom of the sheet gets overly wet during a shower and stretches out the linen, we just make a fold up top and clip it an inch or so higher. Hemp fabric and/or upcycled, patchwork pieces could work well for this purpose, too, and add a unique touch to your bathroom. (As always, please keep safety — such as slip risks — in mind.)
New outfits for every special event:
Between photo shoots, work events, speaking engagements and social gatherings, I frequently found myself feeling like I constantly needed a new outfit. I tried a rental service for a while. I think they’re good solutions to reducing fashion waste for many people, but I still found their carbon footprint to be too high for my comfort. I realized that the clothing itself wasn’t the issue— it was my mindset that needed to change. I’ve since found comfort and satisfaction in deliberately wearing the same garments repeatedly on camera and at events. We all know that fast fashion and over consumption of new styles is a major source of pollution — from dyes in water supplies, to transport and packaging, to discarded garments themselves. Plus most people in small homes struggle with wardrobe space, and the best solution is to simply own less clothing. It feels good to strike a truce with yourself and rock the same clothes you wore last week… and last month… and last year… and the year before that.
Toys that replicate safe, every day goods:
A good friend of mine sent me a photo of a toy lace-up shoe that her daughter received as a gift. The image was captioned: “WHY?!” (Why indeed!) Can we not teach our kids to lace on *actual* shoes? Do we need to mass manufacture fake shoes for this purpose? While we can all surely agree that items like child-safe scissors (which are available as hand-me-downs and second-hand purchases) are obviously well worth it, we probably don’t need items like fake (often plastic!) baby bottles for play when the real things are already sitting here in our homes taking up space— we might as well use them!
Novelty games / activities:
Okay. I liked Tetris and Super Mario as much as any child of the 80s. But to now purchase newly manufactured handheld (plastic!) gaming devices or mini arcade games as novelties when countless games are available on our phones is absurd. And Adam recently told me he saw a (plastic!) mini-golf game intended for use while you’re sitting on the toilet, and a quick web search confirmed that this is indeed available via at least three very prominent international retailers. Our planet is going up in flood and flames, and we’re all complaining about having too much stuff, so let’s convey as consumers that makers must stop producing total junk like this. It’s pointlessly wasteful, and ultimately it just ends up cluttering our homes before cluttering up a landfill.
An entire home gym:
There are many understandable reasons why someone might have a piece or several pieces of work out equipment in their home. (And I imagine that most people who could fit a home gym into their space are probably not reading this blog.) But if it’s not a necessity to you and yours, exercising outdoors or sharing equipment at a gym are simple ways to cut down on the number of large machines being manufactured, packaged, shipped, and — ultimately — discarded.
Catch-all dishes:
If you’re shopping vintage or supporting an artist by buying their handmade ring or catch-all dishes, great! But mass made valet caddies, ring dishes + holders, and coin trays are things that can easily be made from numerous repurposed items that are probably already available around your home. Or maybe you don’t need them in the first place! (For example, I just put my rings in a safe spot on top of our first aid box when I shower.) After all, items like this take up valuable surface space in a small home.
Forget the File Box
In a recent blog post, I provided tips on how to curb your daily paper clutter by regularly using a mini-scanner and organizing your files digitally. However, I didn't address one key issue: the leftovers. When living in a tiny space, what do you do with the paper files you cannot scan and HAVE TO keep? How do you maintain an uncluttered, beautiful, and yet practical home-office? The solution is simple-- repurposed picnic baskets:
Bottom Basket: This horizontal design holds my current office paperwork.
Top Basket: This vertical format is the perfect filing solution for baby West's medical records & product safety information documents.
There are so many ways to get clever with necessary storage containers. In this case, think beyond the file box. In a small multi-use space where everything is visible, nothing will stab at your eyeballs like a plastic or metal file box that is not only ugly, but also a constant reminder of work. I chose picnic baskets because they're almost always large enough to house A4 paper and US-size folders, and because they're usually a similar color, so they're great to mix and match:
Both of these are vintage. I found the larger basket at The Mart Collective in Venice, and the other at Tower 20 in Santa Monica. Two of my favorite online shopping resources for vintage cases like this are ETSY and Maven Collective.
I love that I can leave these file boxes open and in use for the entire workday without making the house feel like a traditional office. You'll be amazed at what a difference little details like this can make in your little home.
Storing your baskets on the floor? Make sure to select pieces that are stackable. Stowing yours up high in a closet? Pick a format that's slender enough to slide out easily when you need it. There's a never-ending and diverse array of designs out there-- enjoy finding what works for YOUR small space!
Double-Duty Drawers
In the past 4 months, Adam and I have given away about 1/3 of our belongings. It feels so wonderful to create more room for our new lifestyle with baby West! Here are a few little modifications that we made that really helped us free up floor space, and eliminate clutter:
1. Built-in Pet Toy Storage
For the past 5+ years, these four drawers on my side of the bed were filled with my socks, underwear and swimsuits. I'd placed an open basket at the foot of the drawers, and that's where we stored the dogs' toys. But the basket got in the way a lot-- mainly when I was trying to access the storage under our bed, or when I'd groggily wake up in the middle of the night to pump. I realized that I could easily get rid of one drawer of accessories, and then keep the puppies' goodies in the bottom bin. Now I can easily tuck the toys and container away:
2. Extendable Nightstand
We have wonderful little built-in nightstands on the sides of our bed. But lately I've been wanting a bit more surface space at night so I can keep West's books and toys at the ready (we're currently co-sleeping). Rather than buying a new piece of mobile furniture to wheel in during the evenings, I opted to make a cover that I can slide over one of the open drawers at night:
Luckily the removable lid to the basket located one cubby up worked PERFECTLY for this project. But had it not, I would've simply had a lightweight piece of plywood custom-cut at the hardware store that I could use in the same manner. During the day, I would've stored it on the shelf alongside the books. In this case, I just replace the basket top during the day. This little extra table-top space is so helpful!
3. Trundle Storage for West's Toys
As West's toy collection grows and evolves, we'll need a big, easy bin in which to put everything. However, there is no room for an additional large catch-all basket or box in our house. So I decided to donate all of the clothes I kept stashed in the trundle-drawer on my side of the bed. (The neighboring bin is for laundry.) Now every bit of clothing I own is stored in our garden wardrobe.
My hope is that this easily accessible, oversized drawer will be a handy tool in the future, when West is able to pick out and play with his toys on his own.
So. Much. Dog. Hair.
You know how my photos are always bright white and a tad bit over-exposed? Well that wasn't an artistic decision at the start-- it was a necessity. I had one dog at the time, Stanlee, and he sheds INSANE amounts of hair. When I first started sharing photos of the Cottage online, I spent hours photoshopping out the numerous, massive tumbleweeds of Stanlee's hair that are constantly gliding across our floor. I should've just left them in there (real life and all), but I didn't want to discourage anyone from adopting a dog. (Stanlee is a rescue, which I talk about often, as I'm big into the Adopt-Don't-Shop concept.) I quickly realized that if I just brightened up my photos a bit-- VOILA!-- the hair would almost completely disappear from the photos.
So many people write to me and ask if my dogs (#StubsandSoph) shed, and if so, how I handle it. For years I used a handheld vacuum. It was the only thing that fit easily into our home, and it's not hard to vacuum an entire tiny house with a mini-vac. That being said, it's definitely a pain to have to plug/unplug the machine in every section of the cottage, and all the hunching over kills your back. And of course I couldn't reach our vaulted ceilings with the handheld, so I would use paper towels on a long stick to reach cobwebs. CLASSY.
Adam kept saying we should get a Dyson cordless machine he'd seen somewhere, but I kept on insisting that there was no way a full-sized vacuum would fit in our house.
Then came baby West. Immediately the dog hair started getting all over West's clothes and toys (which all inevitably end up in his mouth). I finally gave into Adam's suggestion and got Dyson V8 Absolute. I have to say, I am a complete idiot for not getting it sooner. It's amazing. Here's why:
It breaks down into small components so I can stash it away in the living room. (Photos below.)
It's so quiet that West sleeps through it.
It's cordless, which makes it crazy easy to use. I vacuum several times a day now because it's such a breeze.
It can reach the vaulted ceilings, so I no longer have to use my classy Gandalf stick.
It really removes the hair, rather than just dragging it around in the nozzle, or scattering it about the floor via exhaust fans. (My handheld did both of those things, which was annoying.)
I genuinely recommend the V8 to anyone who lives in a small space and/or is battling with the drama of dog hair. (Now I just overexpose my photos so I don't have to clean my windows.😜)
Resources: Folding Leather Stool and Tabletop Lanterns by Serena and Lily. Woven Boots by Frye.
